Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change by George Marshall - Paperback

Recomendo à todos que procuram uma abordagem complexa em relação às mudanças climáticas (além dos dados disponibilizados por entidades científicas). Ótimo livro!

Sí, leerlo dos veces porque la primera vez uno piensa "no puede ser". Pero hay que tener la mente abierta y pensar que debemos superar con cogniciones y emociones positivas lo que aborda el libro. Es genial en su enfoque y desarrollo.

This is an important book. Its central theme is the disconnect between conceptual knowledge, in this case of climate change, and people's willingness to act, which must be mediated by emotional patterns, "frames", values, and conviction.The scientific evidence of anthropogenic climate change on a very large and destructive scale is overwhelming. It is happening now, and looming dramatically larger in the coming decades. There is yet no consensus to act, much less how to act. The dominant response is to ignore the elephant in the room and hope it will not disturb us further.Debating the evidence and arguing about what may happen is remarkably unproductive in terms of building consensus for action and changing cultural and economic patterns.Climate change is global, complex, somewhat abstract most of the time, and occurs in a time frame of decades, all of which make it difficult for humans to respond appropriately. Costs are short term, for benefits which are longer term and not perceived as certain, though in fact they will be massively greater than the costs of action now.This scenario does not readily yield tangible, emotionally salient images. Climate change is a "wicked" problem, subject to conflicting representations and lacking a clean solution.Marshall is a communications specialist, knowledgeable about the science, and a good communicator. At present there is no systematic way to analyze the cultural and emotional obstructions to clear understanding, so he takes an episodic approach, presenting data, conversations, and ideas from many sources, building a kind of mosaic as he goes.The facts are sobering. By mid-century disruptions from global warming - economic instability, food and water scarcity, perhaps military conflict, as well as extreme weather - will be widely visible and disruptive, and costly and difficult to contain. This will affect most people now under fifty years old.Within the lifetime of people now being born the future survival and viability of human civilization will be determined. This is not far in the future.Humans have never faced a transition on this scale within a short time frame of a lifetime. The poignancy is that the choice is obvious: give up carbon based fuels, and consume less altogether. Or face chaos and massive human die offs. Which sounds better?There is not really a simple culprit for our current situation. Massive numbers of people have bought into the high consumption society as a model.The fossil fuel industries are the core sector of modern economies. They have generated immense fortunes for their owners and their allies in government and the media, who have spent hundreds of millions of dollars promoting confusion and delay in responding to climate change.After 200 years of industrial society and two or three generations of a consumer orgy, many people are shocked that it has come to an end in basically a single generation. Consuming less "stuff" is not in itself the end of the world. It is compatible with a rich and elegant lifestyle based on "consuming" culture and community instead.The model of "stages of death" applies here. We are experiencing widespread denial and anger, to be followed by bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Culturally there is a loss, to be sure, but cultural change is not fatal - unless we fail to adapt to the realities. Then we are addicts who deny the cliff's existence as we sail right over it.For a clear statement of what lies beyond the current cultural confusion, try  Not-Two Is Peace, Expanded 3rd Edition . It cuts to the core of this discussion. Not-Two Is Peace, Expanded 3rd Edition

If you've ever wondered what goes on in the mind of a climate denier, this book will help you understand. More importantly "Don't Even Think About It" helps us understand why we are failing to reach and convince these people and may help us find the way to bring some of them over to our side, or at least reduce their level of opposition. Logical arguments only work when we all start from the same basic premises, and that is where we are losing them. We have to get into their mental frame of reality first and go from there. We may never convince all of them, or even a majority, but we don't need 100% agreement, just a sufficiently high level of overall agreement to create and sustain political support to tackle problem.This book is essential reading for any climate activist or indeed any environmentalist who wants to be better prepared to promote their cause. However, while this book focuses on climate change, I can see parallels to other topics such as Evolution and maybe even Gun Control.

"Don't Even Think About It" is by far the best book on the psychology of climate change. It took Marshall a decade to research, a process not of studying students in a lab, but of listening deeply to people from all walks of life and perspectives. He writes superbly, untangling a Gordian knot of issues for the reader with lucid explanations, witty anecdotes and a rare turn of phrase. The nature of the topic lends itself to pessimism, but Marshall pulls off the trick of looking squarely at a profoundly threatening problem without ever allowing his reader to despair. He ends on an upbeat note, and gives practical tips for talking about climate change.The subtitle is odd, and really doesn't do the book justice, smacking of reductionistic pseudo-science. This is a rich exploration of the mind and soul, generous in its warmth for humanity and subtle in the tapestry it weaves. My kindle version is a rainbow of highlighting and notes that will inform my campaigning on climate change in future. I have no doubt that this is one of a small handful of books on the topic of climate change which will come to be seen as essential reading.